U.S. Could Cut Power Plant Pollution 26%, NRDC Says

By Kim Chipman -
Dec 4, 2012

President Barack Obama could cut
greenhouse-gas emissions from U.S. power plants 26 percent by
2020, the Natural Resources Defense Council said in a plan that
puts pressure on the administration to issue new rules.

Obama can use his authority under the Clean Air Act to
clamp down existing polluters in a cost-effective way, the NRDC
said in a report today. These emitters, which include Southern
Co. (SO) and Duke Energy Corp. (DUK), are the biggest sources of U.S.
carbon-dioxide pollution, with power plants fueled by coal, oil
and natural gas making up one-third of total emissions.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson
said earlier this year the agency had no plans to move ahead
with rules, spurring an outcry among environmentalists who say
the regulations are crucial in the fight against climate change.
NRDC is calling on the newly re-elected Obama to act.

“The time is right for the president and the EPA to
address this,” David Doniger, climate policy director for NRDC
in Washington, said in an interview. “While ultimately we need
U.S. legislation to cut emissions deeply over the long term, we
can take a big bite out of carbon pollution with the laws we
already have on the books.”

EPA View

EPA Assistant Administrator Gina McCarthy said Nov. 13 that
any rule regulating emissions from existing coal-fired power
plants is at least several years away.

The NRDC is making its proposal as envoys from more than
190 nations meet in Doha this week to negotiate terms for a new
climate change treaty that would require emissions cuts from the
world’s biggest polluting nations, including China and the U.S.
for the first time.

Developing countries are pressing industrial nations for
further steps on global warming. The U.S. has pledged to cut
greenhouse gases about 17 percent by 2020 over 2005 levels and
says it won’t increase that target at this year’s United Nations
meeting.

Resources for the Future, which gets funds through
government grants, foundations and companies such as Goldman
Sachs, estimates the U.S. can cut emissions 16.3 percent by
2020, assuming the EPA rules for existing polluters are enacted.

Plant Guidelines

Under NRDC’s plan, the EPA would set guidelines for
existing power plants that reflect a state’s specific mix of
power sources. For example, a state that gets most of its
electricity from burning coal would have a different EPA
guideline than one that has more of a split between coal,
natural gas and oil.

“NRDC’s proposal is designed to give power plant owners
freedom to choose how they would achieve the required emission
reductions, giving credit for increases in energy efficiency and
electricity generation using renewable sources and allowing
emission-rate averaging among fossil fuel-fired power plants,”
according to the NRDC report. “States would also have the
freedom to design their own approach, as long as it achieved
equivalent emission reductions.”

NRDC’s plan doesn’t call for emissions trading, known as
“cap and trade,” though states could implement such a program
if they choose, Doniger said.

The group says that if the new standards were put in place,
carbon emissions from plants would decline 26 percent over this
decade from 2005 levels. Annual costs would amount to about $4
billion in 2020, and estimated benefits from “saving lives and
reducing the risks of catastrophic climate change” would range
from $25 billion to $60 billion.

Call for Action

European Union, China, Brazil and India have called on the
U.S. to step up greenhouse gas reductions as a first step toward
a treaty on reducing emissions worldwide. The U.S. never
ratified the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which limits emissions in
industrial nations such as the EU, Australia and Norway.

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said
developed countries need to cut emissions by 25 percent to 40
percent in 2020 from 1990 levels to meet its target of keeping
warming since the industrial revolution to below 2 degrees
Celsius (3.6 degree Fahrenheit). Only Norway and Monaco have
submitted pledges in that range.

Obama’s climate envoys are in Doha this week for UN talks
for a new global warming treaty by 2015 that would take force in
2020. U.S. lead negotiator Todd Stern told reporters yesterday
that the U.S. is “on track” to meet its 17-percent emissions
reduction goal, in spite of Obama’s 2010 failure to push
national cap-and-trade legislation through Congress.

UN Talks

Environmentalists and delegates from countries including
China say they will be closely watching the UN negotiations for
any signs of how forceful Obama may be on climate policy over
the next four years, both domestically and internationally.

“The single most important thing that President Obama can
do over the next couple of months is issue standards for
existing power plants,” Jake Schmidt of NRDC said in an
interview in Doha. “That’s what will send a very clear signal
to the international community that the U.S. can reduce
emissions and be on track for an international agreement.”

So far, at least one company, Entergy Corp. (ETR), says it
welcomes NRDC’s proposal for new rules, calling it a “good
starting point for this important discussion.”

“While we prefer a comprehensive legislative solution that
sends an appropriate price signal on carbon emissions while
avoiding regressive impacts on lower income customers, this NRDC
framework looks to be a thoughtful treatment of a complex
issue,” New Orleans-based Entergy, the second-largest owner of
nuclear power plants in the U.S., said in an e-mailed statement.

Praise for the plan also came from William Reilly, who
served as EPA administrator under former President George H.W. Bush.

“This is an imaginative proposal that addresses some real
needs,” Reilly said in a statement. “It deserves to be
carefully analyzed and taken seriously by all the affected
interests.”